I am in the process of helping to clean out a hoarders' previous home, a darling little garden cottage of about 650 sq ft. There is a long driveway, a deck, a patio, and a shed- all were stuffed full of TRASH. The house itself was stuffed with furniture- 14 pieces just in the bedroom- and literally a ton of clothing, enough dishes to serve and feed about 50 people at once, 3 refrigerators and 2 freezers full... and everything coated with a very thick layer of nicotine residue. YUCK!!

The house itself has had no maintenance, of course, for the 16 years they were there. The trees and roses are overgrown and in need of attention. There are at least 75 pots outdoors with varying degrees of dead plants in them.

An older couple lived there. The husband died of cancer, and 5 months later the wife just walked out and left it. The friend that I'm helping is planning to move in, in a couple of months when it is finally clean.

This past Monday we stacked up a pile 24 ft long, 4 ft wide, 4 ft tall for the "annual extra garbage" pickup- thankfully, free. Another truck and trailer load of beds, carpet, portable dressers, broken chairs, went to the dump the Friday before that. I took my car full of dishes to the local animal rescue thrift store. I felt bad because they were dirty, but they insisted it was fine, they were happy to get them, "people buy dishes."

We're still looking for a way to get 6 dressers, 3 tables, and 3 occasional tables back into use. Haven't been able to find an organization that will pick them up...